The Changeling and The Pony: The Power Of Love
by SuperWiiNES64
Summary: An alternate continuation of The9Tard's 'The Changeling and the Pony.' After Darkhorn's revelation to Fluttershy, Ch. 10, the two try to continue on with their lives, but a new terror attempts to destroy their and everypony else's happiness. I have permission from The9Tard to post this "Fanfiction of a fanfiction."
1. Chapter 11: Making Plans

**Chapter 11: Making Plans**

In the days that followed Darkhorn revealing his true form to Fluttershy, the two had attempted to come up with a scenario in which he could possibly show his true form, without the other five mares ripping him to shreds.

"What if you transformed while we are all together?" offered the pegasus.

"No." said the changeling, "If anything that would frighten them to violence. Especially Rainbow Dash."

This last comment he whispered to himself, while he was strong and good in a fight, the female had already knocked him out once, and he did not want to tangle with her again. Fluttershy thought she heard Darkhorn say something about Rainbow, but decided not to comment. Suddenly Fluttershy had a thought.

"What if I let it slip to Rarity that I finally told you how I feel about you?"

This confused the changeling, "What does that mean?"

The yellow mare blushed, "Well, when we were at the spa, she figured out I had 'feelings' for you…"

A look of interest crossed Darkhorn's face. Even back she felt something for me, Darkhorn thought to himself. Fluttershy continued with her plan.

"She will get so exited, that she will have to tell somepony. And of course you know how mares get to talking."

He stared quizzically at Fluttershy. No, he did not know. What did they do? When she realized that he had no idea what she was talking about, she giggled, and continued.

"Rarity will tell somepony, that somepony will tell somepony else, and eventually it will make its way to Pinkie."

He smacked his forehead with his hoof, of course Pinkie Pie; that ridiculously hyper pony would; he paused to think; he had no idea what she would do.

"What is Pinkie gonna do?"

Fluttershy sighed, "You haven't spent enough time here to know that Pinkie would have to throw one of her Pinkie parties, and then I can explain the situation and you can show them the 'real' you.

While he did not like the idea, he had to admit it was the best plan they had come up with.

"Alright Shy, I'll do it for you."

She giggled again; she really enjoyed the nickname he had started calling her. If anypony else had started calling her that, she probably would have assumed they were making fun of her. But since Darkhorn had started calling her such, she felt a great surge of energy.

"I'll go meet Rarity for our weekly spa treatment and hopefully she won't be able to contain herself."

The pegasus smiled at the alicorn. He smiled back; he was finding it easier to get lost in her eyes. Angel hopped into the room and let loose a loud annoyed sigh, if these two love-ponies kept this up he would have to move out, maybe live with other forest creatures. But he had to admit, he was happy for his owner. Fluttershy deserved to be happy, and she had never seemed happier then when she was around the changeling. Even if he himself still felt a little uneasy with the creature around. Fluttershy realized she was staring at Darkhorn again. She could not help it; she kept on getting drawn into his lovely eyes. She just hoped that her friends would be as understanding as she was.

Meanwhile, in the Everfree forest, a mouse was fleeing from a predator. It wasn't like anything the small rodent had ever encountered before. It was vicious and cruel; it had already caught and let it go three times, and the mouse was getting tired. It looked behind itself, but nothing was there. The mouse stopped to catch its breath. This proved fatal, as the mouse felt the eerie presence of the creature that was hunting it. The mouse quickly turned to face its pursuer, but it was snatched up in the creature's cage-like claw. As it was being lifted up, the mouse felt like it was being drained of something, it did not know what, but it did not matter as it began to accept its coming end. A single tear escaped the mouse's eye before passing on. The hooded creature looked at the husk in its claw, it spoke cold and deep.

_"_Aw, you poor thing. Here, let me wipe your tears." The creature began a low chuckle, "Yes, yes, your anguish sustains me."

A cruel laugh escaped the monster's mouth and echoed through the trees. There was a new creature around, and it terrified everything.

Darkhorn felt a dark chill go up his spine; he broke his gaze with Fluttershy and peered out the window towards the forest. Fluttershy became concerned all of a sudden. Why did Darkhorn look at the forest? Was something wrong?

"Darkhorn? Are you ok?"

The changeling was not sure how to answer; he had felt something. He was not sure what it was, but it felt oddly familiar. He turned back to the pegasus.

"It's nothing Shy. I thought I heard something."

He did not like lying to Fluttershy, but he felt it was best to not let her worry. Especially when she and him had such a big task at hand. He smiled at her.

"We'd better get prepared for our big party."

"Alright, let's get started." She smiled back.

Angel rolled his eyes and started tapping his foot.

The next day, at the spa, Fluttershy and Rarity were soaking in the big hot tub. Fluttershy had not told her friend her big news yet; she was waiting for Rarity to ask first. All the while, Rarity could sense that her friend wanted to talk to her about something, but she did not know what. Maybe now was the time to grasp at straws. Rarity turned to her friend.

"Fluttershy, darling, you seem quieter then usual. Do you perhaps have something on your mind?"

Fluttershy gulped, its now or never, she thought.

'It's not something, more some-stallion…" The pegasus let the statement sink in before continuing. The white unicorn was grinning ear to ear. She hoped to Celestia she knew what her friend was talking about.

Fluttershy leaned closer to her friend and whispered, "I told Darkhorn how I feel about him."

Rarity squealed like a little school-filly. "Ooh. Details, details."

"Well, he told me something important about himself, a secret he has been keeping, and he was afraid we all would shun him for it. He was very brave to tell me, even though he thought it would end our friendship. After he told me, he was so upset I had to comfort him. And well, I…" Fluttershy's words became so quiet, Rarity could not hear her.

"Excuse me, dear. Could you repeat that last part?"

"I kis…him."

"One more time."

"I kissed him!"

Rarity heard this time, so did every other pony in the Spa. Rarity looked at her friend, she was part surprised and part overjoyed, but only the surprise showed. Her look confused Fluttershy.

"What do you think?" said the quiet mare.

Rarity was so shocked she could not even articulate what to say.

"I… wha… he… you… him…" The unicorn steadied herself and continued; another large grin across her face. "Oh Fluttershy. I could not be happier for you. Did he return the feelings?"

Fluttershy started to blush again, Rarity did not need anything other then that for confirmation to her inquiry.

The unicorn had another question, "Have you told the others?"

The pegasus shook her head, "Not yet, and I'd rather you not tell them. Just yet."

Fluttershy included a quick wink at the end her sentence to indicate to Rarity that she could tell the others; hopefully she understood that. And she did. The unicorn winked back, they shared a good laugh together.

A while later, Rarity was in her shop, continuing the winter ensemble based on Darkhorn's coloring. She was pondering on some sapphires, when heard her door open. She turned and saw a familiar pink pony hop in.

"Hiya Rarity, what's up? What did ya wanna talk about that was so important?"

Rarity quickly ran up to her bouncy friend and shoved her hoof in her mouth.

"Pinkie Pie, I have something very important to tell you. But you have to keep it quiet."

The unicorn leaned into Pinkie's ear and told her everything that she knew about Fluttershy and Darkhorn. When she was finished, she pulled her hoof out of her friend's mouth. Pinkie took in a long breath; Rarity thought she was going to explode if she took in any more air. When she was full up of air, she let it all out slowly. An unnaturally calm Pinkie Pie began to speak.

"On the one hoof I can't believe it. But on the other it makes perfect sense." Then she returned to her classic Pinkie manner. "Ooo, we need to throw a party! It'll have balloons, music, and piñatas!"

Rarity looked at her pink friend, and raised a brow. Then Pinkie remembered about what happened the last time.

"Ok, maybe no piñatas." She said this a little glumly, but quickly returned to her chipper self. "Should we tell the others what the party is about?"

Rarity thought about it for a little bit, then finally said, "I think it would be better if Fluttershy told everyone else."

"Okie Dokie Loki!"

The two mares began to plan the best party ever for their friend.


	2. Chapter 12: A New Foe

**Chapter 12: A New Foe**

As Darkhorn approched the Everfree forest, he felt very cold, much colder then he had ever felt before in his entire life. He was wearing his disguise and had put his recently cleaned armor back on. He wished he could have left Fluttershy a note, but he still was not good enough at writing to even attempt it. He was hoping he was wrong, but he wanted to find the disturbance he had felt earlier. It had been bothering him to no end; it did not only feel cold, but also it felt evil. Darkhorn had heard the term used before many times, usually towards his own kind, but this felt different. It felt like there was nothing beating in his chest, just a hollow empty shell. He gulped and began his search for the source of the feeling. He had hoped to do this alone, but Fluttershy's pet bunny Angel had decided to come along. He oddly felt safer with the small mammal. Angel was already regretting coming with the changeling, but for whatever reason he felt compelled to travel with the creature.

They had been looking for a good while. It was getting dark and Darkhorn did not want to continue looking in the pitch black of night. There was a sudden rustling in a tree. Both rabbit and changeling looked in the direction of the sound but saw nothing. Very odd, Darkhorn thought to himself. They both turned around to go home, and yelped at what they saw.

"Boo!"

A frightened Angel jumped into a nearby bush. The alicorn could not believe what he saw. The creature before him was wearing a tattered grey cloak with scattered holes in it; the hood was up so he could not see its face or head. It had no legs, just a loose spine that hovered off the ground. Its body was just ribs, no skin, just off-white bone. Its limb where the most frightening, long thin skeletal arms. At the end of each arm were five long sharp claws, also made of bone. The creature let out a low chuckle. The sound went straight through Darkhorn; it made the empty feeling in his heart ten times bigger. When some of his courage returned Darkhorn went into a pose he thought could possibly be intimidating and asked in a shaky voice,

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

The creature floated around Darkhorn, giving him a once over. When it was in front of him again, it began to speak in a deep, cool but scratchy voice.

"Who I am and what I want is of no consequence to you." It paused. "Changeling."

Darkhorn became slack jawed, how did this creature know he was a changeling? He was still in his disguise. The creature continued,

"Before you ask a stupid question, I can tell just by looking at you, I mean come on, your coloring has no imagination. And besides I could smell you from the other side of the forest." The creature began to circle Darkhorn again. "You see I am just like you changeling, I feed of emotions as well. But unlike you, I don't have the luxury of transformation." The creature lifted itself into the air and outstretched its arms. "But with that; you shall aid me."

Darkhorn defiantly stated, "And why do you think I would ever help you?"

"Why? Oh, my dear changeling. You have no choice in the matter."

Before Darkhorn could do anything, the creature lunged at the changeling and grabbed him by the throat. The creature slammed Darkhorn onto his back, and placed its left claw above his face. Darkhorn suddenly felt like he was being drained; something being taken from him. What was it? Soon he realized what this monster was doing; it must be casting some kind of spell, taking the love he felt for his new life; but more then that it was stealing the emotions he felt for Fluttershy and her friends. In the bushes, a terrified Angel wanted to help the changeling, but knew he would not make a difference in this struggle. He decided the best way to help was to try and get it from the pony town. He hopped away as fast as he could. The creature saw the little white rabbit hop away, but the small creature was of no consequence to its plans. It needed to concentrate on stealing the disgusting emotions from this changeling's heart. While it absorbed the emotions of the changeling, it was also looked at his memories, and living them as if they where its own. This creature had done this to many others before, but he had never experienced such a dramatic change in any creature before, especially in such a short time. It was mildly intriguing to the creature, but it put those thoughts in the back of its mind. It needed to have a ruthless changeling at its command, not a sniveling love-struck alicorn.

Fluttershy was walking back and fourth through her cottage. She was very worried about Darkhorn and Angel. If only he had left a note for her, then she would not have to worry so much. Pinkie had told her earlier that she had a surprise for her, and of course a surprise from Pinkie Pie meant a party. She wanted to go to the party with Darkhorn so they could explain early on, but it seemed she would have to go on ahead without him. Just in case he came back, she wrote a note for him.

_Darkhorn, _

_Head to Twilight's Library for the party._

_Fluttershy_

She posted the note to her front door and trotted off to the party.

The creature looked at what it had done to the changeling. He was sprawled on his side, skinnier then ever. During the feeding the changeling had reverted to its natural form, which the creature found much more appealing, at least for its purposes. The most notable part of the transformation was instead of the changeling's ice blue eyes; white, empty eyes had replaced them. He was completely devoid of expression. The creature did not enjoy feasting on positive emotions, they tasted too sweet, and they had no taste compared to that of fear. In this case, it was necessary to steal those particular emotions out of the changeling. The creature interlaced its claws together.

"Excellent. Now this is the love-sucking monster I need to grip that pony town in total terror."

Now the changeling was just another hungry monster that would do anything for a meal. A monster that would spread fear; fear that the creature would dine on. The creature let out wicked cackle that once again shook the trees. It enjoyed when a plan worked like it wanted.

Angel had been hopping full speed the whole time; he finally got to Fluttershy's cottage, out of breath. He looked up on her door, and there was a note. He jumped up and snatched it. When he realized he could not read pony writing he threw the note away. He thought to himself where would Fluttershy go at this time of night. Maybe the big tree in the middle of town, she seemed to go there quite often. He sighed and once again began running towards town.

Fluttershy knocked on Twilight's door, and prepared herself for the big yell of surprise that usually came with one of Pinkie's parties, but it was Spike who opened the door.

"Oh, hi Fluttershy."

"Hello. Spike?" She said, with some uncertainty.

The baby dragon chuckled, "Everypony's already here Fluttershy, we're all dieing to know what the news is about."

"Oh, you don't know?" She raised one brow.

"Nope, Rarity and Pinkie just told everypony to come. She said that you and Darkhorn had some news you wanted to share."

He began to stare at her like a little school-colt who wanted a treat.

Fluttershy had to giggle at the little dragon, "Ok Spike, is Darkhorn here?"

Spike looked confused, "He's not with you? Weird, I thought you two would come together."

"So did I." she said this to herself more then to him. She went inside to mingle with her friends.

Meanwhile, just outside the Everfree forest, two figures exited the tree line and began making their way towards Ponyville. Another storm was about to hit the town, a storm of fear.

About thirty minuets into the party, everypony present was beginning to get restless. Rainbow Dash was flying back and forth; Applejack was balancing a cup on her nose; Twilight was pulling books off the shelves and putting them back; Pinkie was doing a stand-in-place shuffle-walk; Rarity was watching Spike sleep. Fluttershy was looking out the window; it looked like it was going to rain again; she exhaled a loud sigh. Rainbow Dash could no longer stand it, she had to do something other then waiting. She let out a loud cry of frustration that drew all eyes toward her.

"Sorry everypony. It's just this waiting for Darkhorn is killing me. I mean its not like we don't already know why we are here. Right? Am I wrong?"

The rainbow-haired pegasus looked around at all everypony in the room. When it seemed like nopony was going to give an answer, she just let out another frustrated harrumph. Fluttershy began looking out the window again. About ten minuets later, Rainbow began repeatedly hitting her head on a bookshelf. Applejack was the first to comment,

"Now hold on there, sugar cube. Everypony here is anxious about this here shindig. But you don't need to go around causin' a ruckus, messing up Twilight's nice bookshelves."

Twilight came over to her and said with a bit of a chuckle, "Actually A.J., I was going to reorganize that bookshelf later anyway, so Rainbow is actually doing me a favor."

The orange pony looked at her purple friend and let out a harrumph of her own, then walked back to her punch cup. Rainbow looked at Twilight and tried her best to smile, but she was too annoyed at the situation to even start. Another five minuets passed, and this time Dash could not contain her frustration, she flew up to Fluttershy; who was still looking out the window, it had began to drizzle. The blue pegasus grabbed the yellow one, and yelled in her face,

"Ok Fluttershy, I've had enough of this waiting, tell us what you want to tell us, or by Equestria, I will leave right now!"

The timid pegasus was dumbfounded, so was everypony present. Rarity decided to stand up for her friend.

"Rainbow Dash! There is no reason for such an outburst! You need to apologize to Fluttershy right now! She brought us all here to share some wonderful news, and you feel the need to yell at her because you are bored! Not very loyal if you ask me." The unicorn huffed away.

"Woof." This was Spike. He liked seeing Rarity defend her friend with such valiant grace.

Rainbow sighed, she knew Rarity was right, "I'm sorry Fluttershy, it's just this waiting is slowly driving me loco in the coco."

This pricked up Pinkie Pie's ears, "Hey, that's my thing!"

Everypony laughed at Pinkie's outburst. After the laughter subsided, Fluttershy sighed, now was as good a time as any to tell everypony the secret.

"Alright, girls."

"Eh-hem!"

"And Spike. Could we all sit down? I have a story for you all."

"Finally."

All the mares sat in a semi-circle around Fluttershy; Spike sat in front of Twilight. The yellow pegasus began to tell her story. She started with the first time she met Darkhorn. She went into great detail about how she felt comfortable around him, as if she had met him before. Then she went over the fight with the wolf again, this part was familiar, as they had heard it all before. The talk of his bravery during the fight, and his kindness after the fact affected all present, even Rainbow Dash, who had to admit the waiting was worth this story. Then she talked about him helping her out with the honey harvest, and all the chores around the cottage. She slowed down her speech when she began to talk about how she asked him to help look for the changeling that attacked her.

"You asked him to help look for the monster who attacked you? Why would you do that?" Rainbow interrupted.

"Please Rainbow, let me finish." Fluttershy said this louder then she wanted, but it quieted the other pegasus down, so she continued,

"We looked in the forest for a long while, until I found the changeling's armor. I had recognized it from the attack. I started to get more and more worried at the poor thing. It got to a point where I couldn't control myself and I started to cry. He said he could no longer stand it, he didn't want me to cry at his expense."

Everypony was confused. Twilight was the first to ask,

"What did he mean at his expense?"

Fluttershy continued with caution in her voice, "Well, he showed me that…"

Suddenly there was a quiet knock at the door. Spike got up and answered it; it was a very tired and wet Angel. He fell on his face. Fluttershy saw and immediately went to attend to her little pet.

"Angel! Are you ok? What happened? Where is Darkhorn?"

A cold singsong voice echoed from outside, "He's out here."

The six mares ran outside in the light rain and saw a frightening cloaked figure standing next to a snarling changeling. Fluttershy's eyes opened wide in terror.

"Darkhorn?"


	3. Chapter 13: Battle in Ponyville

**Chapter 13: Battle in Ponyville**

Fluttershy was dumbstruck. Why was Darkhorn standing in the middle of Ponyville without his disguise on? And what was that thing next to him?. In a defiant stance, Twilight spoke to the creature.

"You there. What are you doing in Ponyville? And with that, changeling."

She said the word 'changeling' with obvious disgust. The creature was more the willing to answer her inquiry; but first it wanted proper introductions. It floated closer to the ponies.

"And hello to you, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight all of a sudden felt off balance. How did this thing know her name? It floated right next to the six mares and began to point at each one.

"And let me guess at the others. Diamond-side is Rarity; freckles here, is Applejack; you are obviously Pinkie Pie; this would be Rainbow Dash, a fairly unimaginative name if you ask me."

The blue pegasus was getting increasingly annoyed with this thing. She started to hover and put her hooves in a boxing motion.

"Ok, you wanna go! Put up your hooves!"

The creature extended one of its claws, and lightly slid it across Rainbow's throat. Her eyes opened wide in panic, and tried desperately not to gulp. It chuckled under its cloak,

"Sorry, I don't have hooves. Just very sharp claws."

It removed its claw from her throat in a very swift but careful motion; it did not want to injure her jugular. Then it finally turned to Fluttershy, who was still staring at the changeling. It took a clump of her hair in its claws, and let it slide through them.

"And this must be the lovely Fluttershy. I can see why the changeling wanted to feed on you. The love that radiates off you is…" he said the final word with a sneer, "…intoxicating."

Rainbow Dash put two and two together.

"That's the changeling that attacked Fluttershy?"

The creature turned to the pegasus, and said very maliciously.

"Oh yes, yes it is."

Fire erupted in Rainbow's eyes. She impulsively flew at the changeling like a rocket, but he moved too fast for the flying pony, he sidestepped to the left and used both of his hind legs to buck her up into the air. He extended his insectoid wings and flew up after her. The sudden action knocked Fluttershy out of her stupor and she flew after the combatants. The creature wanted to look up in the sky to see the carnage that was going to be unfurled, but it had the other mares to take care of first. Twilight shouted at the creature.

"Who are you?"

"Me?" said the creature. It started to hold itself in an overdramatic fashion.

"Well, my little ponies, I am what is called a Grim. I am a proud member of a race of creatures that feasts on emotions. Just like that changeling who is fighting your friend up there, but my unlike his species, feeds off fear and hate; instead of love." The Grim scoffed to itself, "Ridiculous, who would want to feed on something so; gross."

Rarity looked at the Grim with disgust, "You believe that love is gross? That is just sad."

The Grim flew right up against Rarity's face, she squealed at the sudden movement. It spoke very coarsely.

"Your sadness, dear Rarity, is not what I want. I want your fear, your hatred. And while I'm getting quite a lot of rage coming from your flying friend up there. I am not getting enough from you or your friends down here."

Spike ran at his maximum speed towards the Grim.

"Get away from her, you creep!"

The Grim chuckled at the tiny purple dragon. Spike jumped and took in a large breath. He was hoping to spew a large blaze of fire. Unfortunately it was not much bigger then it normally was, but it was enough to singe the hood of the Grim's cloak; this made the Grim angry. It grabbed the flying dragon by his tiny body and threw him threw one of the windows of the library. All ponies on the ground yelled the dragon's name,

"Spike!"

Suddenly the Grim felt a change in the ponies, a change it had hoped for; it felt their rage. Rage directed at it, rage over the assault on their young friend. It was glorious. It decided now was the time; it began to remove its hood.

In the sky above Ponyville, the two flying combatants were staring each other down. The rain had started to come down harder since they had flown up into the sky. A third flyer came up to the others and tried to get the attention of the fighters.

"Rainbow, you can't fight him!"

The blue pegasus did not hear her friend. She thought she just cheering her on, not very Fluttershy-like, but Rainbow appreciated it all the same. She stared at her opponent. Even though he was far away from her, he was still an imposing figure. Fluttershy decided to try and get closer; maybe Rainbow would hear her this time.

"Rainbow, you can't fight him! He's Dark…"

The sentence was cut off at a sudden flash of lightning that streaked between the two combatants. Rainbow was the first to move, she streamlined towards the changeling, she wanted to finish what Fluttershy had started and break the thing's jaw, but just like before, he was too swift for her. He dodged right and using a single hoof, struck her square in the stomach. All the air in her lungs escaped her at once. It was a terrible feeling, not being able to breath. The changeling did not let up on his target; he flew above her and dropped his hind legs right on her spine. Rainbow Dash let out a cry of pain, and dropped like a stone.

"Rainbow!" yelled Fluttershy

She flew at fast as her wings could carry her, hopefully it would be enough to save her friend.

With the Grim's hood removed, its fearsome appearance was completed. Its head was bone just like the rest of its body, the shape was that of a goat's skull. Its teeth were razor sharp, perfectly aligned triangles. It had two straight horns coming out of the back of its head, and an additional spiral that stood out of the center of its forehead. It was similar to the horn of a unicorn, but longer, and much sharper. But to the four ponies, the most frightening part of the Grim was its eyes. The irises were a deep crimson ringed by black waves. Instead of normal pupils, they were vertical black slits. To the four mares, its eyes were like looking at evil itself. Applejack was the first to shake off the Grim's appearance.

"Stop staring at that thing's eyes!"

The rest of them shook off their initial shock at the sound of their friend's accented voice.

"Interesting, you ponies are quite resistant to fear. You don't give in like most creatures." The Grim though out loud.

Pinkie Pie spoke up. "What is the point of being scared? Like I always say, laugh and the scary goes away." Then she started to giggle to herself. "That rhymed."

The Grim looked quizzically at the pink creature. It realized why the changeling had despised the pony upon their first encounter. It intended to rectify this giddy pony's positive outlook on life.

"A very interesting philosophy Pinkie, but there is a great flaw." It paused, and looked her directly in the eye. "I am not going anywhere; and no amount of laughter will change that."

Pinkie felt her smile fade away; this thing frightened her, and she truly believed that no matter what she did, it would keep on doing so. Twilight saw Pinkie's expression of pain. She stomped her hoof into the ground; a flash of anger came across her face.

"Alright Grim. I've had enough of you."

She summoned a blue bolt of magic to her horn, and shot it at the Grim. It was caught a little off guard, but not enough to surprise it. It extended its left arm and caught the bolt in its claws. The Grim let the magic simmer for a few seconds before finally absorbing it. The ponies were taken aback. The Grim felt their fright rise one hundred fold.

"Didn't expect that, did you?"

Falling. Falling in slow motion. That was how Rainbow Dash felt as she went in and out of consciousness. How had that thing beat her so quickly? She had never felt so useless. She had to chuckle to herself, the name 'Rainbow Crash' would actually have some merit to it now. She calmly accepted the inevitable as she hit the… air? She was flying again, but her wings were not flapping. Groggily, she looked up at her yellow savior.

"Fluttershy?"

"No time Rainbow, I've got to set you down someplace safe and talk some sense into him."

"But Flutt…"

Rainbow fell back into unconsciousness. Fluttershy was glad that her friend could not continue fighting Darkhorn. Fluttershy wanted to talk to him, without her friend interrupting. She set Rainbow under a tree just outside Ponyville. She was just about to fly back to Darkhorn, but she saw that he was coming to her. He landed on the ground with a loud thud. Fluttershy was instantly reminded of how scared she was when they had first met; but she had to get him back, but she did not know how.

"Darkhorn? Can you hear me? It's Fluttershy. Please answer me."

The changeling did not understand why his prey was talking to him. She should be afraid, yet it seemed like she had already knew him. But he could not think about that right now, he was very hungry, and love radiated off this creature. He took a menacing step forward, intending to frighten her so he could pounce, but she did not budge. She looked him in the eyes.

"You can't scare me Darkhorn. I know this isn't the real you."

She could not know the real him. He was a changeling; there was no way he would have gotten to know his prey; yet she seemed so confident. She took a step towards him.

"Please come back to me Darkhorn. I know you would never do this unless you were forced to. Please, come back to me."

A tear formed in her eye and rolled down her cheek. The changeling watched it fall and felt something. He could not quite articulate the feeling, but it felt as if he did not want her to cry, not over him. His brain felt like it was in a vice; he did not want this feeling anymore. He started to shake, struggling with flashes of events he could not remember. A mailbox; bees; a song; a flower; a duckling; this pony's face in shock; her body touching his. He let loose a cry of anger and frustration. Fluttershy began to think; maybe he was coming back.

"Fight it Darkhorn, Fight the spell."

Rainbow regained consciousness; she sat up and saw that Fluttershy was walking towards the changeling. She had to react before the creature hurt her. She stood up and flew past her friend.

"Rainbow! Don't!"

But it was too late. Rainbow had already grabbed the changeling and was heading up towards the clouds. It took a second for the changeling to react, but he realized that his enemy had reengaged in the fight. He struggled loose from her grip, flew a cartwheel and got back in the fray. The fight was a flurry of fore-hooves and hind legs. Both creatures dodged and blocked as many hits as they could. They would briefly disengage from each other and quickly reengage, and then the bout resumed. Bruises were made and blood was shed, changeling green and pony red. Rainbow had an idea; she saw an opening. Taking a page from Applejack's book, she bucked the changeling square in the chest. He spun several times in the air. He stopped himself and looked for his opponent; she was nowhere to be found. He suddenly heard a voice above him. He looked up.

"Hey changeling! You faster then lightning?"

The changeling was stunned at what he saw. Rainbow Dash had pulled a black cloud down from the sky and had positioned it above his head. The little that the changeling understood about pegasi, he knew that they were very adept at controlling and manipulating the weather. Rainbow took one of her hooves, raised it above her head, and struck the cloud. A bolt of lightning streaked past him, just barely missing his wings. She began to rapidly strike the cloud; dozens of bolts erupted from the cloud and charged directly at the changeling. In a split second, he decided that the only course of action was to fly into the fray. He dodged left and right and did a looping barrel roll, then flew straight at Rainbow's cloud. Upon the changeling's contact, the cloud exploded with a burst of electricity that sent several jolts into both combatants. The changeling recuperated much faster then the pony. He flew up behind her and bit down on her neck. She cried out in pain. He felt her emotions flow into him and once again felt the spark he had felt earlier, the feeling of something he had lost. Fluttershy had finally caught up to fight, and she did not like what she saw. Rainbow tried to signal Fluttershy away, but she did not comply.

"Darkhorn! You release Rainbow Dash right now!"

There was only a hint of anger in her voice, but for whatever reason the changeling felt the right thing to do was to obey. He released his grip of the pony; and as soon as she was free of his teeth, Rainbow Dash painfully flew over to her friend.

"I don't know if I can hold him back anymore Fluttershy. He drained me pretty good."

Fluttershy looked at her friend, and with confidence stated, "Don't worry Rainbow. I know what I'm doing."

She did not like it, but it was not as if Rainbow could actually stop Fluttershy, even if she wanted to.

"Good luck Fluttershy; be careful."

Fluttershy appreciated the sentiment behind her friend's words. She took a deep breath and approached the changeling.

"I know you can hear me, and I know you can understand me. But you have to remember who I am, and who you are."

Rainbow did not understand what Fluttershy was going on about. This thing had attacked her, and she was talking to it as if they were best friends. Fluttershy continued with misty eyes.

"Do you remember the first time we met? Not as a changeling; but as an alicorn…"

Rainbow did not like where this was going.

"…I was humming my honey song to the bees. You startled me so much I shut off like I always do with other ponies. I realized very quickly that I was comfortable around you, but I didn't know why. I would soon find out; you were kind; generous; and unimaginatively brave. At my most vulnerable, you comforted me, even while you were in physical pain. And when you where at your most vulnerable; I discovered what I thought was true, but was afraid to admit."

She flew closer to him. Rainbow prepared to charge in case he attacked.

"I love you Darkhorn. I love you with all my heart."

A luminous glow began to form around Fluttershy. A separate glow came from the changeling's horn. The glows began to get brighter and brighter, so bright that Rainbow Dash had to shield her eyes. As the light enveloped the changeling, he remembered everything. His first day in Ponyville; his battle with the Timber wolf; selling honey at Sweet Apple Acers. And finally he remembered who he had become. He was no longer a changeling; he was an alicorn. Unfortunately, he also remembered the Grim had done to him; what it wanted him to do to Fluttershy and her friends; for that he could not forgive himself. Unexpectedly, he smelled a familiar scent, honeysuckle. He felt a familiar body rub against his. He saw the familiar face of Fluttershy; she wore a weak smile on her face, but to him, any smile from her brightened his soul. She rested her head on his shoulder. He returned the gesture. Standing in silence, they both knew that all was forgiven and everything would be all right. The light surrounding them began to die down, but the fire in their hearts would never go out again. Rainbow Dash could finally see again, and could not believe what she saw. The changeling had become an alicorn. Not just any alicorn, but Darkhorn. She began to put the pieces together. The words Fluttershy had been saying and the emotions behind them. Darkhorn was the changeling that had attacked her friend, but now Fluttershy was saying that she loved him. It was beyond confusing for the blue pegasus, and it showed on her face. Darkhorn saw the look and flew over to Rainbow. In as calm a voice as he could muster, he spoke to her.

"Rainbow, I know you're confused, and probably angry with me, but I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me."

Rainbow realized that she was angry with him, very angry. First he had attacked Fluttershy, and then he came back prancing into town like nothing happened. Darkhorn could feel her rage rising, he had to explain fast if he wanted to gain her trust. He quickly explained his reasons for attacking Fluttershy, and his plan for revenge. She only felt more hate for him; but when he started to talk about the time he was spending with her and her friends, her anger started to subside. Then he started to talk of his journey into Everfree forest and his encounter with the Grim.

"…And that thing grabbed me and sucked all the emotions and good memories out of me. It turned me back into the monster I have been all my life." He paused and said to himself more then her. "I should have known that a beast like me could never be a swan like all of you."

Rainbow could not help but feel pity for the changeling. The sincerity of his words had cut her heartstrings. A look from Fluttershy was all she needed to finally agree. With a nod she said,

"Alright Darkhorn, if what you say is true…" Suddenly she remembered, "Our friends are still down there with that thing!"

Fluttershy reacted, "Oh no, we've got to save them!"

Darkhorn looked to Fluttershy then to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow was in no shape to fight, and he did not want Fluttershy to get hurt. It was up to him to save the day.

"Alright lets get back to Ponyville. But when we get there I want you two to help your friends, and leave the fighting to me." Fluttershy was about to protest, but Darkhorn stopped her, "No buts Shy, I want you to stay out of harm's way."

She nodded in agreement. As the three ponies flew back to Ponyville, they all hoped their friends were still safe and sound. Unfortunately, they were far from safe.


	4. Chapter 14: Fear Itself

**Chapter 14: Fear Itself**

The revelation that the Grim could use magic had frozen the four ponies. Twilight was, again, the first to comment.

"You can use magic?"

"That I can, Twilight. Would you like to see more?"

Abruptly, the Grim teleported in front of Applejack, she was going to yelp, but it picked up her hat and slammed in on top of her head, which in turn caused her to crash into the ground. It quickly teleported away from the four mares; when it reappeared, it slowly took a theatrical clockwise spin. A flicker of flame lit from the Grim's right index claw, it proceeded to place its claw on the ground and flew in a circle around the mares. Large pillars of fire erupted from the ground and enclosed the four in flame. Wickedly, the Grim issued a challenge.

"Come on girls, let's see what you've got."

Applejack blindly jumped through the fire, intending to ram the Grim. It pivoted to the left. As she flew by, it grabbed her by her blonde tail and swung her by it in a small circular motion. Twilight shot another bolt of magic, which dispersed the fire, at the Grim. Just like before, it caught the energy in its claw, but this time it shot the bolt back at the unicorn. The impact sent her flying into the side of the library. It proceeded to throw a still spinning Applejack towards her friends. Rarity took a running leap at the Grim; Applejack flew under her and slammed into Pinkie Pie. Rarity had also intended to ram the Grim, but in mid-flight she stopped moving. She looked all around for the reason behind her halted attack. She looked at the Grim, and saw that it had grabbed her in a telekinetic field. She shook her legs, trying to escape, but found she could not. With a flick of its wrist, Rarity went flying backwards into the library. Suddenly Pinkie Pie reappeared, armed with a giant cannon. The Grim was puzzled, where did this pony get a cannon all of a sudden? She fired the cannon and out shot Applejack, hooves forward. She slammed into its ribs, but only jerked it back a few inches. The Grim chuckled to itself,

"Well, that was rather unexpected."

The Grim picked up a dazed Applejack and once again threw her at her friends; they fell over like bowling pins. The Grim cheered itself

"Strike! Ha ha!"

The ponies picked themselves up very slowly; they could not take much more punishment from the Grim. It slowly swayed towards the group.

"Well girls, if you're still not convinced that I'm invincible, put me to the test. Hit me with your best shot!"

It spread its arms wide open in eagerness for their attack. It reminded them of how cocky Discord had been to doubt the Elements of Harmony. The Grim was going to regret its arrogance. The mares looked at each other and silently planned what they were going to do. Twilight looked to the Grim and smirked.

"Now girls!"

With unnatural speed, the four mares put their plan into effect. Applejack pulled out a rope and lassoed the Grim's arms to its sides; Rarity used her magic as extra insurance to hold it in place. Pinkie Pie moved her cannon in front of Twilight; who was charging up her magic. When she was ready, Twilight fired a powerful white beam of energy into the cannon. The cannon intensified the beam ten fold, and shot out of the cannon directly at the Grim. As the beam made contact, an explosion occurred that let loose a shockwave that knocked the four mares through the open door of the library. The flash could be seen all the way to Canterlot. As the dust settled, the mares saw nothing remained of the Grim. They all let out a sigh of relief. Rarity out of the blue remembered,

"Oh no, Spike!" She rushed over to the fallen dragon; he was lying on the floor. He looked unconscious. Rarity scooped him up, "Oh Spikiey-Wikiey. You were so brave. Please don't be hurt."

She rubbed his head her own. When he did not react, she began to quietly weep. She surprisingly felt his small claws itch her hoof. She looked down at the small dragon with misty eyes. He looked up at her, and spoke with some difficulty.

"Don't cry Rarity; not over little old me. That thing didn't even scratch me."

Rarity was so delighted; she began to squeeze the baby dragon, so much so he had trouble breathing. But if that meant getting a hug from Rarity, he could handle it. Twilight finally had to pull her off him. She gave him a quick embrace of her own, he asked about the Grim.

Twilight replied, "Don't worry Spike, that thing is gone for good."

A laugh broke that consideration, but it was no normal laugh. It echoed all around. It could be heard in front, behind and all around at the same time. Pinkie Pie never thought something used for joy could be used in such a way; it broke her. Her normally puffy hair fell flat. She fell onto the floor, curled up in a ball, and covered her head with her hooves. She screamed at the sound.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!"

The laugh ignored her cries and grew louder, shriller. Applejack and Twilight clustered around their friend. Through the open door of the library, a black smoke floated in. It swirled itself faster and faster until it was a small black tornado. As the tornado spun, the laughter sped up and became even higher pitched, until it was a swirling cacophony of pure terror. Twilight shouted at the whirlwind,

"You can't scare us!"

The twister suddenly stopped to reveal the Grim. It was still alive. The mares were once again taken aback.

"No, n-no, my magic…" Twilight stuttered out.

"It wasn't strong enough, my dear." The Grim chuckled. "Even after all that trouble you girls went through. I'm still here."

"Alright, I've had just about all I can stand of you!" yelled Applejack.

She ran headlong at the Grim, but it lifted her up with its telekinesis. It shook its head.

"Tisk, tisk, Applejack. I think, I have had enough of your brutish tactics. Goodbye."

It clenched its claw. Applejack felt all the air in her lungs disappear. She could no longer breath, she gasped for air, but none would come. Twilight tried to shoot another bolt at the Grim, but it threw a pink energy bubble around her; she shot the bolt and it reflected of the surface and zapped her unconscious. The Grim looked to Rarity, who was clutching Spike again.

"How about you two? Do you think you can defeat me and save the day?"

Rarity closed her eyes and shook her head, tears streamed down her cheeks. Spike sadly looked at the floor. The Grim chucked again.

"I didn't think so."

Applejack finally fainted and the Grim released its grip, it needed her alive after all. It clasped its claws together and sighed.

"Ah, this has been such a bad day. At least for you lot. Ha-ha-ha! Hmm, I think I'll start with you Rarity. Since you're still conscious."

Another cruel cackle erupted from the Grim's lipless mouth. It stopped very suddenly; it felt something. A concerned look crossed its face. It floated out of the library and saw a ball of light in the sky. Its eyes widened.

"No. It can't be. That changeling couldn't have broken free from my spell? But there is such… power emanating from that orb. Interesting."

The light died down, but the overwhelming feeling was still very present. Perhaps the Grim had underestimated the feelings that the changeling had felt for the pegasus. It was most perplexing. What could triumph over fear? As the Grim was pondering, it failed to notice the new opponents bearing down on it. Darkhorn landed with such force that the ground cracked under his hooves. Contrary, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash landed very softly behind him. The yellow pegasus walked closer to the alicorn.

"Do be careful, Darkhorn."

He turned to her and smirked, "Don't worry Shy. Just help your friends and steer clear of any fighting."

She and Rainbow slowly began to inch towards the library. They did not want to draw attention to themselves. The creature seemed either oblivious or unconcerned with their presence. Darkhorn's expression turned serious as he turned to the Grim. It finally seemed to realize that it was no longer alone.

"So you broke free of my spell?" The creature guffawed. "Did the power of love set you free?" The creature said with heavy sarcasm.

Darkhorn smirked at the creature. "Actually, it did."

The creature's expression turned sour. "That was a rhetorical question."

"Didn't sound like one to me."

"Well it was."

The Grim turned its head and looked at the two pegasi sneaking into the library. It chuckled to itself, and looked back at its opponent.

"What do you think those two are going to do? Help the others escape? Ha! No matter where they go, I will find them. And as for you…" It pointed a claw at Darkhorn. "… Your fear knows no bounds, and it will sustain me for a long, long time." Another evil cackle erupted from the creature's lips.

Darkhorn grunted. "Shut up and fight!"

The alicorn spread his wings and flew hooves first at the creature.


	5. Chapter 15: Final Confrontation

**Chapter 15: Final Confrontation**

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were horrified by what they saw. Twilight, Applejack and Angel where unconscious, Pinkie was shaking, tightly curled up in a ball, and a weeping Rarity was holding an injured Spike. Rarity saw her friends at the door and called out to them.

"Oh! Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash! Thank Celestia you're both alright."

Rainbow limped towards Applejack and gave her a nudge with her snout.

"I don't know about alright, but we'll live. What happened here?"

Rarity quickly recapped the whole ordeal. Fluttershy tried to coax Pinkie out of her position, but to no avail. She turned to the unicorn.

"Oh my… and Darkhorn is…"

"Darkhorn is what, dear?"

Rainbow was about to tell Rarity the secret, but a look from Fluttershy told her otherwise. She decided to spin a different story.

"I was beating that changeling pretty good, but he got a cheap shot in. I would have been done for, but luckily Darkhorn swooped in and saved my sorry flank. Now he is out there fighting that thing while we get all of you out of here."

Rarity had stopped crying, but she still spoke with great concern, "I don't see how; Twilight and Applejack are out cold, Pinkie is scared stiff, and you Rainbow are injured yourself. Are we all to be carried by poor Fluttershy?"

"I will if I have to."

Fluttershy said this with an air of strength that neither of the other ponies and heard her speak before. They unicorn and cyan pegasus looked at each other, then to their friend and nodded in agreement.

Darkhorn was panting heavily; he had never been in such a fight, he doubted anypony had. This creature was fast, unimaginatively fast; and he had thought fighting Rainbow Dash was tough, but this thing was insane. He slumped to the ground.

"Maybe I can outsmart it?" He unsurely whispered to himself.

"I heard that."

"I really need to stop talking to myself."

"You really do. You sound like a crazy pony."

Darkhorn glared at the Grim. It raised its claws, did a conceited shrug and bared its teeth. Darkhorn really wished this thing had lips. As it lowered its claws, the Grim began to question Darkhorn's motives.

"I wonder changeling…"

"Darkhorn."

"Fine, if you insist on using that silly pony name… Darkhorn. Why? Why are you so keen on these ponies; especially the yellow pegasus? Fluttershy is it? As a changeling, I would think that you would only want to feast on their emotions until there was nothing left. Yet you seem very… content on sharing these feelings. Why?"

The Grim had been floating closer to Darkhorn as it had been talking. Defiance surged inside him as he stared into the Grim's eyes.

"You don't understand?" He chuckled to himself. "And here I thought you were the one who understood emotions." He continued laughing.

The Grim snarled at Darkhorn, it did not like being laughed at. All of a sudden Darkhorn attempted to hit the Grim with his right hoof, but it caught the punch in its claw. He tried again, with his left hoof; once again the Grim's sharp talons caught it. Darkhorn looked into the creature's crimson eyes. It shook its head and sighed in disappointment.

"Now Darkhorn, did you really think that was going to work? Such stupidity deserves punishment."

In a single swift motion, the Grim twisted Darkhorn's forelimbs under themselves and pushed up. The move did not break the limbs, but they certainly felt like they should have. Darkhorn let out a scream that shook Fluttershy's bones.

"Oh no! Darkhorn!"

The pegasus unfurled her wings and flew out of the library, before anypony could stop her. Rainbow called after her,

"Fluttershy! Wait!"

But she could not stand by any longer; Darkhorn needed her help. She arrived just in time to see the Grim drop Darkhorn from his painful stance. Anger flared in her heart, she flew at top speed directly at the creature. Darkhorn saw Fluttershy approaching the Grim; he had to protect her. He tried to jab his horn into the Grim's rib cage, but it grabbed his horn and lifted him up by it. The Grim noticed the pegasi approaching, but it did not want to meddle with her at the moment. At the moment of anticipated impact, the Grim used its free claw and swatted her away. She landed on her side with a quiet 'oof'. Darkhorn yelled the creature.

"How dare you!"

The Grim laughed at the struggling alicorn; it roughly shook him by his horn.

"Come now, no need to shout Darkhorn. Your mate is perfectly fine, just some mild bruising."

It pointed to Fluttershy, she was trying to stand up, but was having some trouble; she fell on her stomach. The Grim returned its attention to Darkhorn.

"As for you, my false alicorn. You are going to take a little trip. A swirling ride, sky high!"

Darkhorn's eyes widened as the Grim grasped its other claw on his horn and began to spin him in a clockwise circle. As speed increased, Darkhorn began to feel sick. The Grim released the alicorn's horn and he shot towards the sky. Spinning through the air, Darkhorn tried and think of a way out of this perilous situation, but could not, due to his confusion. On the ground, the Grim's devilish mind thought of a new game to play with the changeling. It teleported above the spinning pony, raised its claw in a fist and punched down. Darkhorn felt the full impact of the punch and began to fall back down towards Ponyville. The Grim was not done with its game, it teleported again, this time below the falling alicorn. It preformed an exaggerated uppercut and sent Darkhorn flying back towards the clouds. The creature laughed and repeated the process; it also threw in some slaps that would send the alicorn to the left or the right. It eventually became a giant square of pain. Darkhorn was so confused that he did not have time to react to anything. He decided that anything was better then what he was experiencing. He flailed his limbs; hooves, tail, head; anything that would make the Grim stop. Because of the random movements the changeling was making, the Grim could not anticipate what he was going to do. It was the most surprised when a wayward hoof came flying into its face. It let out an over-exaggerated scream of pain. Darkhorn once again began falling down to Ponyville, but the Grim took no notice. Using one of its claws, it searched its face for irregularities. All seemed normal; wait no, a single razor sharp tooth was missing from its mouth. The Grim let loose a howl of rage.

Hitting the ground hurt, a lot, but Darkhorn would gladly take some ground impact then be the Grim's pinball. Unfortunately, that cry that had exited his opponent did not sit well with Darkhorn. He was broken, bloody, and he did not think that he could take much more of this abuse, let alone defeat the beast. He felt his concentration slipping; he may have to drop his disguise if he wanted to keep fighting. His vision began to get blurry; he hoped he would not black out. He once again felt the boney talons grasp his throat. The Grim began to scream at the alicorn.

"Look at what you've done! You've destroyed my face!" The Grim dropped Darkhorn back into his crater. "And now I am going to destroy your whole body!"

Similar to how Rainbow Dash had struck the lightning cloud, the Grim began to punch down at Darkhorn. It was a very controlled beating, considering how enraged the Grim actually was. Strike after strike, drove the alicorn deeper and deeper into the ground. Darkhorn thought to himself; I must be in a lot of pain, because I can't feel anything. Darkness enveloped him.

Fluttershy slowly came to; she drowsily looked up and saw Rainbow Dash looking down at her. The blue mare flashed a weak smile.

"Good to see you conscious."

Fluttershy tried to stand up, but found her legs could not quite support her weight; she fell again. Rainbow bent down to help her friend.

"Woah their Fluttershy. Take it easy."

But she could not. She tried again to stand, and failed. Fluttershy looked to Rainbow and asked.

"Where are our friends?"

Rainbow pointed over to them; Twilight and Applejack had regained consciousness, but they were not in high spirits; they slowly walked along side with Spike, who was limping and carrying a used up Angel, while Rarity was using her magic to carry Pinkie Pie, who was still stuck in her ball-position.

"Not exactly our finest moment, is it?" Rainbow joked.

Rarity huffed, "Not really the time for such talk Rainbow."

"She's right though!" exclaimed Twilight. "We've thrown everything we got at it, but it just wasn't enough! It's hopeless."

The purple unicorn slumped to the ground and began pawing at the dirt. Spike walked up to her and patted her mane.

"But what about the elements of harmony? Can't you guys use them?" questioned the dragon.

"No, we can't." Twilight sighed mournfully. "They are all the way in Canterlot. Like I said hopeless."

"There's got to be something we can do?" said Applejack.

Tears came to Twilight's eyes. "No. Nothing." And she began to quietly sob.

The other ponies looked back and forth to each other. They all thought to themselves; Twilight is right, may as well lie on the ground and wait for the inevitable. All of them except Fluttershy, she stood up and in a clear commanding voice said,

"Listen up everypony! I know we've all had a tough day, but we can't just give up and quit. Did we quit when Night Mare Moon returned? No. Did we give up when Discord corrupted us? No. Did we lie down when the Changelings attacked Canterlot? No! And we are not going to give up now!"

For some unknown reason, the ponies seemed to gain strength from their friend's words. Rainbow Dash stood beside Fluttershy and wrapped her foreleg around her friend's shoulder.

"Fluttershy's right! We can overcome anything if we do it together!"

Applejack nodded, "Right, together."

"Together." Chimed in Rarity.

"Let's go show that Grimmie-Grim-Grim how we do things! Together!" Shouted a resuscitated Pinkie Pie.

The group looked to Twilight, who was still lying on the ground. She looked at her friends and said in an almost inaudible tone.

"But how?"

Fluttershy walked over to the unicorn and extended her hoof.

"Haven't you been listening Twilight? Together."

Twilight smiled and took her friends hoof. The six stood in a circle and joined hooves.

"Together!" They all cheered.

A sudden light enveloped them; a brand new energy refilled them. The mares looked to each other and saw the elements of harmony had materialized onto them.

"But how?" asked a confused Twilight.

"Doesn't matter, just accept It." said Pinkie.

"Gladly."

The six raced off to aid Darkhorn in his struggle.

The Grim thought to itself; perhaps I overreacted a tad. Looking down at its victim, He no longer had the strength to keep up his disguise, so he had reverted to his changeling form. The pools of his dark blood filling the cracks of the crater that the changeling inhabited. The Grim folded its arms behind its back and leaned forward.

"How are you feeling, changeling?"

"Dark…"

It quickly struck him again. "No need to remind me. I just grow tired of you."

"So what do you plan to do about it, Grim?"

It leaned closer, until it was inches away from Darkhorn's puffy bruised face.

"Well you have experienced it before. Only this time you will not be alive after the fact."

The Grim grabbed hold of Darkhorn's throat and began to drain him.

"Put him down!"

The Grim turned around to see the six pony friends, and the small dragon, that he had frightened into submission, but for whatever reason they were even more powerful then when they had first met. The Grim looked closer to the accessories that the group had acquired, and dropped the changeling out of shock. They were wearing the Elements of Harmony! It could not believe that these six where the wielders of the Elements! The Grim suddenly became very fearful for its own existence. Thrashing the four earlier was one thing, but it was powerless against the full force of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight stepped forward.

"Lets do it girls."

White glows formed around the six ponies and lifted them into the air. The grim had to stop this quickly, but it could not think fast enough. Twilight opened her eyes, flashing white where purple once was, and rainbow colored beam shot from the six ponies up into the sky and fired back down to the Grim. On instinct, the Grim teleported behind the ponies to safely avoid the rainbow colored beam. The six turned around and prepared to fire another beam, but this time the Grim reacted. It charged all the power at its disposal and thrust both claws forward, letting loose a shockwave that discombobulated the six ponies. It flung them all in different directions, knocking their elements from their reach. The ponies scrambled to get their elements back, but the Grim moved at such a speed that it collected them all long before the six could even get close. It coveted all six pieces of jewelry in its talons. It let loose another one of its maniacal laughs.

"I can't believe it was that easy! The mare in the moon and the lord of chaos were defeated by you six? And I beat you with a single shockwave? That is too hysterical!"

It continued laughing, and while it did it created a magical barrier around the elements. It threw the bubble aside, Twilight made a run for the bubble. The Grim wagged a claw.

"Tut tut, Twilight."

It shot a green beam from its claw that knocked Twilight back a few feet. Rarity and Pinkie ran over to her and helped her up. The Grim looked to the other ponies.

"Anypony else want to try and go for the elements? Ha, I can't believe I just said that. Most interesting."

The Grim turned back to the changeling in the crater and lifted him back up by his throat. Fluttershy gasped; Applejack looked confused.

"Now why in tarnation are you beating on yer own partner?"

A look of surprise and glee crossed the Grim's face. It looked directly at Fluttershy.

"You mean you have not told them? Even after all this? Now that is funny."

It lifted the changeling even higher so everypony could see. It dramatically placed its claw in front of his face and waved it up and down.

"Changeling. Alicorn. Changeling. Alicorn…"

It was shifting Darkhorn's appearance back and forth. Everypony was once again stunned into silence. The Grim commented.

"I seem to be very good at making you all speechless. But no matter, I am going to kill your precious Darkhorn; and then I will reduce the rest of you to shriveled husks. Sound good!"

It then turned to the injured changeling, squeezing its talons tighter around his throat. The Grim opened its mouth and began to literally suck the life out of his body.

Fluttershy cried out, "No! Darkhorn! I won't lose you again!"

The Grim sucked and sucked, but for some reason its victim was not weakening; in fact he seemed to be getting stronger. The Grim halted its work and looked back to the ponies. A white energy had enveloped Fluttershy, a cord of that energy connected her heart to Darkhorn's, and it was pumping life into him; it was healing him. The stream even returned the changeling to his alicorn form. Fury rose in the Grim's black heart.

"No. No! This cannot be! I refuse to be defeated by such a weak emotion!"

It tossed the alicorn aside and with a furious roar, charged, horn first, directly at Fluttershy's heart. Time slowed down, nearly to a standstill, as the creature flew at the pegasus. Darkhorn had no time to think, he leaped to save Fluttershy.


	6. Chapter 16: The Ultimate Sacrifice

**Chapter 16: The Ultimate Sacrifice**

Fluttershy closed her eyes. She did not want the last thing she saw to be that hideous creature. She reflected on her life; she thought of the first time she saw the ground, and animals; she remembered all her adventures with her closest friends; she thought of the time she spent with Darkhorn. She knew that the last thought she wanted was of him. She waited for the pale horse to claim her; but nothing happened. She felt no impact, no pain. She heard the Grim's cruel voice speak mockingly.

"And that concludes our demonstration, any questions?"

She opened her eyes, and saw the Grim wiping something from its horn with its cloak, chuckling to itself. Her friends were beside her, tears in their eyes. Fluttershy looked down and choked back tears of her own. On the ground was Darkhorn, a hole where his heart should have been. He choked and stuttered, blood escaping out of his wound and mouth. Fluttershy kneeled down and caressed Darkhorn's head, tears freely flowing down her face. Darkhorn pawed at her with his hoof; she grasped it. With difficulty, he spoke.

"Shy… I…"

A bloody cough interrupted his speech; he tried again.

"I… love… you…"

Darkhorn sharply inhaled, and then slowly exhaled a final breath. He gradually closed his eyes, and fell limp. She released his hoof; it fell to the wet ground. Darkhorn was gone. The other five ponies bowed their heads in mourning. Fluttershy could not believe it; she did nothing but stroke his unresponsive head. It was so sudden, she did not even get to say goodbye. She dropped her head onto his. Tears dripped down her face and onto his.

"Whoops, looks like I killed the wrong pony."

The Grim snickered as it floated closer to Fluttershy. The other five ponies blocked its path. The creature rolled its eyes and with a flick of its wrist sent them flying in all different directions. Fluttershy did not take notice, she did not care; nothing existed but her and Darkhorn. With mock concern the Grim spoke.

"I'm sorry dear. I didn't mean to kill him. Well, not like that anyway. This was much faster, and far less painful."

She continued to disregard the creature. It gritted its teeth together.

"I don't like being ignored." She said nothing. It snarled at her. "Alright, fine. If you want to be miserable I can send you to your beloved changeling."

It raised its right claw above its head.

"I missed before, but I can rectify that mistake!"

The Grim slashed its claw to end the pegasi's life. But something stopped the attack mere inches from her; an unseen force halted the creature's attack.

"What is this?" The Grim's voice was a mix of confusion and concern.

A bright wave of light knocked the Grim onto its back. As it sat up, panic entered its mind. Fluttershy was hovering above the Grim, she appeared to be wearing her element of harmony, but it was different. As the other ones were gold bands with jewels of the respective ponies cutie marks on them. This one was silver, and in the center was a heart shaped diamond. It saw her eyes, they were no longer blue; they shown white just like Twilight Sparkle's when she fired the harmony beam, but on Fluttershy they were terrifying. When she spoke, it did not speak like the mild mannered pony, but rather a loud booming voice that would make the royal house of Canterlot ashamed.

"Beast of fear! You have committed the worst kind of crime. You have destroyed a blossoming love! You must pay for this transgression!"

"Wait no, you can't-"

"And who are you to deny me? A creature such as you has no use for love; so you spread fear instead? Love is the harbinger of hope, of joy. And you would destroy it because is suits you? This cannot be!"

The diamond heart began to glow with a blinding silver light. The Grim's most primal instincts kicked in; it shot into the air and flew away. The pegasi's white eyes looked towards the fleeing Grim, and a silver beam shot out of the diamond. As the last of the light exited the jewel, Fluttershy fell to the ground. Her friends ran over to her.

"You alright?" Applejack asked.

Fluttershy rose to her hooves.

"Wha- what happened?"

Pinkie retold the story.

". And now we are here!"

Pinkie's hyperactive recap of the events only confused Fluttershy more. She looked to Twilight. The unicorn shrugged.

"I don't know what happened. One moment you were a goner, and the next you have that necklace and start talking like Princess Luna. Whatever you did, that thing took off like it was running for its very life."

"Oh my."

The ponies looked up to the sky and saw the beam was still soaring after the Grim.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be, the Grim thought, it was going to invade that pony town, cause some daily terror, and leave after the town was full of ghosts. But now a beam made of pure energy was chasing it. What a humiliating way to go. The Grim turned its head, just to see how close the energy was to it. That was its final mistake; the beam was mere inches from the tip of its vertebra. Panic entered its mind and it could not make a decision. That moment of indecision gave the beam the time it needed to catch its target. The beam rolled itself into a ball, and it began to morph. A limb emerged, then another and another, four limbs; the limbs enhanced into hooves. A head appeared; a long horn spiraled atop the head, a long flowing mane became visible and a lengthy white tail that seemed connected to the mane, materialized behind the hooves. On its back, enormous white feathery wings extended out. The Grim's crimson eyes shrank in terror. The creature before the Grim was an alicorn, but it was far different from the one the Grim had killed below; this alicorn was ethereal. The alicorn opened its white pupiless eyes, and spoke in the same way that the pegasus had on the ground.

"Now, creature of trepidation. Begone!"

The ethereal alicorn flew at the creature and struck it in the chest with its horn; it flew right through the Grim. The pain the Grim experienced was unimaginable, but brief. The Grim turned to face the alicorn; if it had sweat glands, it would have been. With cocky arrogance, the Grim spoke to the ethereal creature.

"Is that all you've got?"

The alicorn cocked its head and raised its right hoof to its face. Confused, the Grim brought its right claw up to its own face; it was horrified at what it saw. Its claw was dissolving; each digit was vanishing at its own pace. The Grim looked at its other talons, they too where fading away. It looked at its spinal column and saw that vertebra by vertebra where disappearing. It looked to the alicorn, a blank expression on its face. The Grim's arms and spine where completely gone. Its ribcage vanished in a single burst, and its horns began to dissolve. With nothing but a skull remaining, the Grim let loose a silent scream as its face twisted into itself and finally imploded. Nothing remained of the creature but its cloak. The cape caught a rouge wind and flew off towards the forest. The ethereal being remained in its stoic position until it could no longer see the wrap. Contented by the cloak's disappearance, the alicorn surveyed its surroundings, and decided that there had been enough rain that night. It unfurled its wings and the clouds parted, revealing a beautiful full moon and sparkling stars to accompany it. Satisfied, it began its decent to aid a broken heart.


	7. Chapter 17: The Power Of Love

**Chapter 17: The Power of Love**

The ponies below were taken aback by the sudden change in the weather.

"Now how in the hay did that happen? There aren't any pegasi up? Are there?" asked Applejack to nopony in particular.

Rainbow Dash replied, "I don't think even I could clear the sky that fast."

"Wow, that was really cool. Don't ya think Angel?" Spike spoke to the now conscious bunny. He nodded in agreement.

"How interesting." Mused a puzzled Twilight.

"Oooh." Let out a bedazzled Pinkie.

"It certainly is a gorgeous moon." Said Rarity, "Don't you think so Fluttershy." Rarity looked and noticed the pegasus was not beside her. "Fluttershy?"

The five ponies turned to their friend. She was standing over the lifeless alicorn with tears once again beginning to form. Angel hoped over to his owner and cuddled her hoof. She looked down to her pet and tried to smile, but could not. She scooped up the rabbit in one hoof and nuzzled him with her face. He hugged her snout and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Fluttershy then began to cry freely, her body quivered with every sniffle. Rainbow limped over, and wrapped her forehoof around her friend's neck. Fluttershy buried her head into Rainbow's mane. The other four ponies stood beside their friend in relative silence, the only sounds came from Fluttershy's weeping. Spike rubbed his claws together awkwardly; he looked up at the sky. He squinted at a bright light. Was a star coming closer? No, that didn't make sense. Stars can't come closer. But something was definitely coming closer, what if it was the Grim! What if it was not gone! It survived somehow! He had to tell the others. The baby dragon flailed his arms in the air and ran towards the ponies.

"Twilight! Twilight!"

"What is it Spike?"

"Look at that!"

He pointed at the light; now he could clearly see what it was, it was some kind of ghost. The dragon yipped and dived behind Twilight. The others, minus Fluttershy, turned their heads to look at Spike's specter. They formed a line around their weeping friend. The ethereal alicorn landed on the ground without a sound. It silently began to walk towards the ponies. Initially they were hesitant, but something about this creature made them believe it did not mean them harm; they cleared a path for the being. Fluttershy was still crying, even as she turned her head to look at the alicorn. Its face was expressionless, but as it spoke, Fluttershy could feel the sorrow in its voice.

"Brush those tears away Fluttershy. It is good to express your loss, but there is no need to be disheartened. You loved Darkhorn, and he gave his life to protect you because he shared that love."

Fluttershy's tears stopped, she looked the alicorn in the eyes. She was about to speak, but Twilight interjected

"Excuse me but, who or what are you exactly?"

The alicorn turned to the unicorn.

"I, Twilight Sparkle, am an embodied form of the Spirit of Love."

The being saw that the unicorn was confused by this answer, so it explained in better detail.

"The strength of Darkhorn's sacrifice awoke the Power of Love which Fluttershy now wears around her neck."

The alicorn pointed to Fluttershy's silver necklace. She looked at it as if she had noticed it for the first time. Rainbow Dash asked her own question.

"The Power of Love? Is that anything like the Elements of Harmony?"

"To an extent, Rainbow Dash. Unlike the Elements of Harmony, which are harbored in you six, any creature can use the Power of Love. Considering of course, the love is strong enough, and the need dire enough."

"So the Power of Love was at my brother's wedding!" blurted Twilight.

"Indeed it was, Twilight Sparkle. And just like love, the Power of Love can take many forms. The strength of this particular love personified itself in this form."

The being waved its hoof along its body for emphasis. Applejack piped in.

"And what about the Grim? Is it gone?"

"You have no need worry." The ethereal being looked up towards the moon. "That fiend will never bother any creature ever again."

Finally Fluttershy spoke. Her words were empty and devoid of emotion.

"Why are you here?"

The being turned to face the pegasus, and stood there for a long while. Fluttershy attempted to ask again, but the being raised its hoof to silence her.

"It is easier to show you."

The ethereal alicorn walked passed Fluttershy and stood over Darkhorn's lifeless body. It leaned its head down until it was level with Darkhorn's. Fluttershy flinched forward in anticipation. The being let out a crystalline breath that entered Darkhorn's mouth. The body seemed to inhale the breath; then it began to fade away into tiny starlights. Everypony's eyes grew wide.

"What do you think you are doing?" Rarity protested.

The being raised its hoof once again. The starlights dispersed from each other until the body was completely gone; they then reconfigured themselves into the shape of a pony; but not just any pony.

"Darkhorn!"

Everypony was taken aback, especially Darkhorn. He looked at his hooves. He looked forward and saw a white spectral alicorn staring at him. It spoke in a calm but firm voice.

"You only have a short time, say only what you need to."

The ethereal alicorn stepped aside to reveal a misty eyed Fluttershy. He walked up to nuzzle her, and then stared into her eyes.

"It looks like this is it, Shy. I'm sorry I put you and your friends through all this misery. I just…"

She put her hoof up to his mouth and smiled.

"Don't worry Darkhorn. Being in love means never having to say you're sorry…"

Fluttershy's words trailed off and she lowered her head in sorrow. Darkhorn used his hoof to raise it again.

"Hey, love is stronger then death. It can't separate us and it can't take away our memories."

Darkhorn smiled at Fluttershy, and she smiled back. Darkhorn felt himself beginning to disappear. He looked at his tail and saw it breaking up into starlight. He turned back to Fluttershy

"Talk to me Shy, please."

"I'm don't want to lose you Darkhorn."

He was already half faded away.

"Don't worry Shy, you'll never lose me."

His neck was vanishing.

"But what will I do without you?"

His head leaned forward; his blue eyes were gone, only his mouth remained.

"You have your friends, Shy." The mouth kissed her on the cheek. "And I'll always be in your heart."

He was then no more. The ethereal alicorn bowed its head; the necklace around Fluttershy's neck transported to its own, it gracefully flew up towards the moon. The five ponies, the dragon and the bunny gathered around their friend. They stared at the moon until the spirit was completely gone. They looked around at the sky and one star seemed to wink at them. Rainbow Dash looked to her fellow pegasi.

"Are you going to be alright Fluttershy?"

The yellow mare softly smiled at her friend.

"I'll be fine Rainbow."

Fluttershy's gaze returned to the sky; she whispered to herself,

"You'll always be in my heart."


	8. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am writing to tell you a story of friendship, loss, and most important of all, love. A few weeks ago, I met an alicorn named Darkhorn. Initially he was a very stoic and distant stallion. He met the rest of my friends upon his entry to Ponyville, and became tangled up in their little quirks. When I first met him myself, I became very nervous like I always am around new faces. But he became a constant companion to me; he helped me with my animals, chores, and even my honey harvest. He showed constant bravery; he saved my life several times, and even sacrificed his own to save me from certain death. I'm sure by now Twilight has informed you about the incident with the creature only known as the Grim, so I will spare you those details again. After the rest of Ponyville learned an abridged version of what transpired, they intended to erect a large statue of Darkhorn in the town square, but I did not agree with that decision. We held a ceremonial burial instead. There is now a small shrine on a hill with a small patch of honeysuckle surrounding it.

What I have learned from this experience is, the greater the love, the greater the tragedy when it is over; but despite that, love conquers all, even the fear of death.

Yours, Fluttershy


	9. Author's Notes

**Authors Notes:**

This passage is more for my benefit then for you readers, so feel free to ignore this if you feel so compelled.

**Ch. 11:**

Basically the thought process in this chapter was I wanted Darkhorn and Fluttershy's first priority for him to revealing his true form to the others. Why you ask? Because I think in their minds that would be the most important thing for them to be doing.

I enjoyed putting some 'mare' gossip, and Darkhorn's complete ignorance at such a concept. Cuz lets face it fellas, female gossip doesn't really make sense to any of us.

I decided to have Darkhorn give Fluttershy the nickname 'Shy' because I could. No real reason beyond that. And anyway I thought it could be cute.

And then them getting lost in each other's eyes. Yes, it is a cliché, but how else are you gonna write about feeling like that. I enjoyed writing about Angel's annoyance, but acceptance over their lovey-dovey stuff.

When I first envisioned my alternate version of the story I wanted the villain to be another changeling; perhaps one of Darkhorn's brothers, a rival royal guard fighting for the Queen's attention. But as I thought about it, I thought that would be kind of boring. So I decided to create my own villain. I knew I wanted it to be an emotion eater, just like a changeling. So I searched the Internet for a suitable creature, and I came across the Grim, or as I'm sure most people know them as, Dementors. Dementors are actually based on the Grim, which is basically a spirit that feasts on human emotion. I also knew I wanted it to be a cruel monster, so I had it chase a poor defenseless mouse; in hindsight that sounds kind of lame. But, what are ya gonna do.

Continuing on to the "spa scene," I had some trouble imagining what two girlfriends talk about in a spa. But I think it did what I wanted it to, so no real complaints.

**Ch. 12:**

When trying to describe the presence of "evil," obviously having never basked in "evil" before, I wondered what Darkhorn felt as he entered the forest. So I settled on the idea of not feeling anything in your chest, and the feeling of cold beside it.

On thinking about the Grim's appearance. I literally googled 'evil,' and saw that many images were of skeletons; so a bony beastie my Grim became. I envision it as being a legless Death, without the scythe.

Its voice was a source of some mental strife. As I wrote its dialogue, I continuously changed how it sounded in my head because of things it would say. Now I hope you, the reader, do not have the same problem. But just know if you do, I'm right there with ya.

I'm not sure if you noticed it or not, I hope you did, but every time I refer to the Grim, I call it an 'It' rather then a 'he or she.' While I want to keep it sexually ambiguous, I do think of it as a male.

As for Darkhorn's resurgence into the ranks of darkness; I thought it would make some interesting reading.

Moving ahead into 'the party scene.' I think the reasoning for the restlessness was that even though Pinkie Pie and Rarity wanted to throw FlutterDark the best party ever, with Darkhorn's absence the potential fun was thrown out the window. And if you've ever been to a party where the participants are not having fun, you find ways to amuse yourself.

If you were confused about Pinkie's "stand-in-place shuffle-walk" I'm not surprised. I imagined it as Pinkie standing on her hind legs, one hind-hoof forward, the other back. Her fore-hooves at a 90-degree angle, opposite hooves forward, and back. Then she just switched them back and forth. She also had a real serious look on her face. "This may look like fun, but its not."

One of my favorite things I wrote in this story was this: "Woof." This was Spike. He liked seeing Rarity defend her friend with such valiant grace.' For whatever reason I think it's the silliest thing. Just Spike being Spike I guess.

I do a lot of recapping in this story for some reason. I'm not sure why, it just kinda happened.

**Ch. 13:**

On the Grim's first meeting the ponies, I wanted it to be somewhat rude to them. So it made fun of their names and appearance. With the exceptions being Twilight and Fluttershy.

When the Grim explained what it was, I wanted it to be very prideful in what it was, and I wanted it to sound like it looked down on other creatures. It had already commented on its dislike of positive emotions, but then when Rarity mentions her 'sadness' at it saying, "love is gross," I threw in a bad temper for the Grim.

Initially, I wanted the first fight to be what the second fight was, but I decided to flush it out and have Fluttershy and Darkhorn have their first little talk.

If you've ever had the wind knocked out of you, you know it is a terrible feeling. Going in and out of consciousness, not being able to breath, it sucks. Which is why I had Rainbow get beat so easily.

I thought of the Grim's head right away, I knew exactly what I wanted. Goat's skull, an additional unicorn-like horn, and crimson eyes. I googled 'evil eyes' and an image was right there.

Another thing I knew I wanted as I thought of the Grim was I wanted it to be more powerful then the ponies. And I wanted it to be even more adept with magic then Twilight. I considered explaining that it had feasted on many magic users, thus its abilities, but I ultimately decided against it.

Back at Rainbow vs. Darkhorn, Round 2. I thought of explaining a long epic battle, but I decided to condense it, and think of it more like a fight from Dragon Ball Z. They're moving so fast you can't even see the punches. I even got a little poetic. "Bruises were made and blood was shed, changeling green and pony red." I didn't mean to, it just kinda happened. I think the lightning cloud attack was a cool little idea, Rainbow using the elements to her advantage kind of thing. It didn't really work out for her, but I still enjoy the idea.

And then Darkhorn comes back. Yay.

**Ch. 14:**

Again, I didn't mean to do this, but the ponies being shocked over and over just kept happening. I couldn't stop it.

Basically, the entire fight between the Grim, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack, was choreographed along the song "You're Only Second Rate" from 'Return of Jafar'. I even put in some of the lyrics as dialogue for the Grim.

You would think everypony in Ponyville would have woken up after hearing an explosion in their town. But apparently not.

Then the Grim easily defeats everypony. Oh no.

I enjoyed the banter between Darkhorn and the Grim. Just them being quipy with each other.

**Ch. 15**

I took the Grim's arm maneuver from Godzilla: Final Wars. You know, when Monster X lifts Godzilla's arms under themselves. That move.

I took the idea of the "pinball square" from Freddy Vs. Jason, except a tad different.

Back to the Mane six. Just when they are at their most hopeless, the Elements of Harmony appear. But how you ask? Well, I'm a firm believer in that they girls don't actually need the jewelry to wield the elements; they just work like a kind of conduit for their inner power. So using that logic, it makes sense that they could summon the elements if they needed to.

It stands to reason that the Grim would know about the Elements and their power, and rightfully fear it. The only reason he wins in this fight was its self-preservation instinct, and the fact that it blew the elements off the respective ponies.

I wish I had a better reveal for Darkhorn's 'changeling-ness,' but I don't.

**Ch. 16:**

To be honest, Darkhorn's death was my whole reason for writing this. As I read the original story, I knew what I wanted to have happen; I wanted Darkhorn to sacrifice himself to save Fluttershy's life. Not to say I don't like the actual ending, I do, I look forward to seeing the continued adventures of FlutterDark. Just in my pony-verse, there is no room for Darkhorn's existence.

And now for the second reason, for me writing this. When I watched the "Wedding in Canterlot" episode, and Shining Armor and Cadence did their love-shockwave-thing. I literally sung in my head, "that's the power of love." You know that Huey Lewis and The News song. Anyway, after that I got to thinking, why couldn't that be a thing. With the Elements of Harmony around, there must be similar old-world magic like that. (On a side note, the Power of Love was developed alongside my Attributes of Valor, but that's a different story.)

Writing the Grim's death was tricky. I thought about how Digimon would "delete" and I wanted the Grim to go in a similar fashion. But obviously I couldn't write, "it deleted." So I wrote different terms for disappearing. It makes me a little sad to say farewell to my beastie, but you never know, more could show up someday (epic foreshadowing?).

Imagine the Spirit of Love like Princess Celestia, just completely white, not so much wavy hair, and male-ish (again its an "It").

**Ch. 17**

As for the ending, I'm content with it. It does what I wanted it to do. Nothing more and nothing less.

**Closing Words:**

I hope you enjoyed reading this "fanfiction of a fanfiction."

I had fun writing it, and I hope you look forward to other works by me.

Love and Tolerate, Bronies and Pegasisters.


End file.
